


Kimi no Superhero

by kinoface



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Community: ninoexchange, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:34:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11478696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinoface/pseuds/kinoface
Summary: There's something about Nino that no one else knows, not even Jun. That's exactly how Nino likes it.





	Kimi no Superhero

**Author's Note:**

  * For [negaii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/negaii/gifts).



> Written for Nino Exchange 2017 and originally posted [here](http://ninoexchange.dreamwidth.org/84356.html).
> 
> Thank you to Penny and Phrenk for brainstorming and endless cheerleading, and to Phrenk for also beta-reading.
> 
> (In case anyone wonders, Tokyo Junior College is a made-up school.)

"Did you hear about the attack in Ginza last night?"

The faculty of Tokyo Junior College's music department is out for yakiniku for an early celebration of the end of midterms, and after two rounds of beer, they've run out of topics for small talk and have moved on to more exciting matters. Tokyo's penchant for attracting terrifying, fantastical monsters has always been a popular topic of conversation, but the increased sightings of both evil-doing monsters and monster-fighting heroes has made it an even more frequently visited topic than usual. Nino tends to sit these conversations out -- unlike most people, he's not terribly interested in the matter -- but it's usually impossible to dissuade others from raving about the incidents they've witnessed or heard about.

Nishikido, the guitar teacher, exclaims, "I heard the monster was twenty feet tall and had tentacles!"

"Tentacles?" says Matsuoka, the percussion teacher. "No, I heard it had a stinger."

Jun, who teaches Music Appreciation and is currently seated a few spots down from Nino, leans in with a smile that makes it look like he's got the juiciest gossip of them all and says, " _I_ heard it was Big-No who showed up to save the day."

Inoo, the adjunct piano teacher who's always tagging along to their weekly outings, says, "Big-No... he's the one with the mirrors, right?"

Jun tsks. "You're obviously thinking of Mirror Man. Big-No is the cyborg -- you know, with the red cape and the metal arm."

Through all of this, Nino sits back and listens -- and, of course, watches. One professor almost spills beer in his lap in his haste to refill his glass; another very nearly drops a plate of meat as she passes it down the table; a third nearly pokes his neighbor in the eye with a chopstick as he gestures wildly in his excited retelling of the incident, but, like the others, his hand changes course at the last moment, and disaster is avoided. Nino observes all of this with a quiet smile on his face, and when anyone asks his opinion, all he does is shrug and comment that being a superhero sure does sound like hard work.

As people begin muttering about calling for the next round of beers, Jun stretches his arms above his head and says, "I should get going."

"Aww, don't go!" someone says. "It's still early!" cries another.

But Jun insists, as he always does. It's Thursday -- still a weeknight, after all -- and he has a stack of papers to grade and an early-morning conference with a student to prepare for. He stands from his seat and grabs his jacket, and Nino takes his cue to stand as well and call out, "Mind if I catch a cab with you again?"

Jun rolls his eyes, but he's laughing as he says, "As always, Ninomiya-san."

The other professors join in on the laughter. Someone says, "You know, if Matsumoto ever moves away you're gonna have to start paying your own cab fare!"

Nino graces the table with a wink and a grin as he stands from his seat. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

In the cab, time passes quietly and without fuss. This is how every yakiniku night ends -- Jun lives in the same direction as Nino, just a little farther out, so it makes sense to share a cab -- and the routine is familiar by now. Jun taps out messages on his phone, and Nino idly drums his fingers against the seat as he watches the scenery go by outside the window.

When the cab slows to a stop outside Nino's apartment, Nino thanks the driver and climbs out -- but Jun doesn't stay behind. He pays their fare, and then he follows Nino up the steps of the main entrance, into and through the lobby, into the elevator and up to Nino's floor. He's still half-concentrating on his phone the whole time, all the way up to Nino's front door at the end of the hall.

But when the door closes behind them, the phone gets put away. Shoes are nudged off, and jackets are hung up. Nino already took his tie off at the restaurant and slipped it into his jacket pocket; Jun is loosening his now, and his fingers move with purpose as he manipulates the fabric, his eyes locked on Nino's.

Nino asks, "Want a drink?" He's smirking as he starts unbuttoning his shirt. "Glass of water, perhaps?"

There it is again, Jun's famous eye-roll offset by a lazy smile as he closes the space between them. Nino leans in to meet him halfway, and then they're kissing, slow at first, their passion ramping up as the seconds tick by because they've both been so swamped with grading exams that it's been weeks since the last time they were able to meet like this. They keep kissing, keep reacquainting themselves with the feel of each other's skin, and then, without warning, Jun breaks away so he can scoop Nino up and hoist him over his shoulder. Nino laughs and wriggles in Jun's grip, then squirms even harder when Jun slaps his ass in retaliation.

As he fireman-carries Nino down the hall towards the bedroom, Jun says, "I'm feeling impatient tonight."

"Please be gentle with me," Nino pleads, but they both know it's a joke; they're rarely gentle with each other, and that's the way they both like it.

As if to prove that exact point, Jun tosses Nino onto the bed where he lands with an _Oof!_ and bounces on the mattress. When he's finally settled and can focus on Jun, he sees that Jun has already stripped out of his dress shirt and is working on his slacks. "Not tonight," Jun says, voice pitched low as he pulls his belt through the loops of his slacks, and that's when Nino realizes Jun's necktie is still wrapped around his fist. He clearly has plans for it. Nino grins as he shimmies up the mattress until he can rest his head on the pillow, and he spreads his thighs to make room for Jun between them.

Jun climbs onto the bed and stalks after Nino, his slacks still on but unfastened, his tie in one hand and belt in the other. He leans down to kiss Nino, and when they break apart he says, "It's been too long for gentle."

Nino tilts his hips up to press against Jun's. "You promise?"

The predatory smile on Jun's face is something Nino's been looking forward to all day. "I swear."

This is the way they usually spend their nights together, with Jun naturally falling into the dominant role and Nino naturally playing along. Nino likes it because he enjoys seeing Jun in control, enjoys being able to feel Jun's strength as Jun holds him down and draws him to the edge -- even though the truth is that, in a way, Nino is stronger than Jun can even imagine.

The truth is that despite this secret they share, there's still something about Nino that Jun doesn't know.

The truth is: there's something about Nino that _no one_ knows.

That's exactly how Nino likes it.

~

Nino wakes up alone the next morning, the way he always does, and goes about his routine as usual. He doesn't teach until noon, so he takes his time getting ready and preparing a modest breakfast of eggs and miso soup before he walks to the train. At the station, an old granny almost drops her hat on the tracks, and a young boy almost falls as the train car starts pulling out of the station, but disaster is averted each time. Nino arrives to campus early and stops by his office, fortuitously located just a few doors down from the lecture hall, so he can spend the thirty minutes before his Music Theory class gathering what he'll need for that day's lesson.

As he's stacking together a pile of handouts, there's a knock on his door. He glances up at his clock -- it's fifteen 'til -- and takes one guess at who's on the other side of his door.

Just as he suspected, it's Jun who's standing there with a smile, reaching out with both hands to offer a piece of homemade onigiri. "I thought you could use some lunch," he says, as if this doesn't happen three days a week, and sidesteps into Nino's office before nudging the door closed behind him. His smile takes on a teasingly sly edge when he adds, "Especially after all that energy you expended last night."

Nino snorts, already unwrapping the plastic wrap around his onigiri. This is why he left the steamed rice out of that morning's breakfast. "Don't look so proud of yourself."

Jun looks a little bashful at that, like he actually was feeling quite proud of himself. He watches as Nino takes a few grateful bites -- it's filled with umeboshi today -- and as the silence stretches on, he begins to fidget. Usually the silence between them in these moments is easy, comfortable, but now Jun looks like there's something on his mind.

He finally says, "Hey, so, uh... I was wondering..."

Around a mouthful of sticky rice and pickled plums, Nino mumbles, "Yes?"

The smile on Jun's face goes from bashful to fond. He continues, "I know how much you like it when I feed you" -- if Nino weren't in the middle of chewing, he'd have a dirty comeback for that -- "so I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner tonight."

Nino splutters for a moment despite himself, sending a few grains of rice flying before he thumps himself on the chest and manages to swallow properly. "Dinner?" he repeats, voice a bit raspier than intended.

"Mm." Jun has gone a little pink in the cheeks, but he forges onward. "I know it's not really... well, we've never done this kind of thing before, but I thought it might be nice. But you don't have to, I understand if you're busy or --"

Nino sets the rest of the onigiri firmly on his desk, the sudden movement startling Jun into silence. He folds his hands neatly in his lap, steadfastly pretends not to have just noticed a grain of rice on Jun's tie, and says gravely, "There's just one thing I'd like to ask, Jun-kun." Jun blinks at him once, then nods, so he continues: "You're paying, right?"

Jun stares at him for a moment longer, and then that scared-stiff look on his face disappears, making way for the smiling eye-roll Nino loves so much. "Yes, Nino, I'm paying."

"Excellent," Nino says. "So then it's a date?"

"I _always_ pay for you," Jun points out, "but... yes. If you'd like it to be."

Nino picks up his onigiri and takes another bite as he turns in his chair to reach for a sticky note. He swipes a pen from a cup beside his computer and jots down his personal contact information, something he and Jun haven't traded until now despite all the evenings they've spent together. He swivels back around to face Jun and offers the note with a smile. "Just name the time and place."

Jun takes the note with a smile to mirror Nino's. "I look forward to it."

~

For Nino, dating has never been particularly high on his list of priorities. He already has a full-time job that takes up most of his time, and he prefers to fill the in-between parts with things like playing video games and relaxing in the bath with a frosty can of beer. It just doesn't leave room for much more than the occasional illicit rendezvous, which is why his and Jun's arrangement has been working out so well up to now.

And then there's his secret, the one thing about himself that he's always preferred to keep private, and letting anyone in too close could easily -- perhaps even disastrously -- compromise that privacy.

But Jun is charming, and funny, even if he does treat his entry-level music appreciation course like it's going to win him a Pulitzer one day, and Nino doesn't see the harm in going on a few dates with him. In fact, like Jun, he's actually looking forward to it.

Jun messages him a few hours later with the details, and they agree to meet outside the restaurant. From what Nino knows of Jun's taste, like his nice clothes and antique watches, he was expecting some ritzy place with valet parking, but instead Jun has chosen an easygoing American-style diner, somewhere he can order a decent plate of pasta and Nino can order a fat, juicy burger. Nino is surprised but not at all disappointed, since his personal motto is "the cheaper the better," and they both enjoy their food. Even that particular brand of casual-friends-on-a-first-date small talk, where they're still trying to gauge what level of depth would make for appropriate conversation, is bearable, and by the end of their meal, they've settled into a comfortable rhythm of thoughtful discussion and teasing banter. Nino has long suspected that he and Jun would get along outside of their weekly trysts and brief office visits, and it's nice to be proven right.

As they're leaving the restaurant, Nino asks if they should call a cab or take the train, but Jun says, "It's a nice night. Why don't we walk for a bit?"

"Did you have a particular direction in mind?"

Jun smiles and shrugs. "Wherever."

So they pick a direction and start walking. It's Friday night in a busy commercial district, so they have to navigate a sizable crowd of diners and shoppers as they make their way down the sidewalk. They find themselves huddling in close together, shoulder to shoulder, matching each other's stride easily. They turn a corner to avoid an oncoming throng of tourists, and once they're all clear, Jun asks, "Did you enjoy your dinner?"

"I did," Nino says, thinking back to his burger. "I'm not much of a foodie, but even I can tell it was a step up from onigiri and cheap yakiniku."

Jun scoffs, clearly joking from the look on his face. "Are you knocking my onigiri?"

"No, it's wonderful! By all means, continue bringing it to me!"

They laugh and continue their aimless journey down the sidewalk, and after a few blocks the crowd thins significantly as they reach the edge of the commercial district. They're walking past a tall, dark building with scaffolding set up around the top floor sand a large banner hung over the entrance that reads _CLOSED FOR REMODELING._ When Nino realizes Jun is slowing to a stop, he halts to wait for him. There's no one else around now, and Jun looks simultaneously happy and a little nervous, like he did back in Nino's office that afternoon.

"I had fun tonight," he finally says after a few moments.

"So did I," Nino responds easily, honestly.

Jun rocks back on his heels a bit, his smile growing by a fraction as if he's been bolstered by Nino's words. "I know this isn't our usual thing," he says, "but, if you're willing, I'd really like --"

But before he can finish his thought, a loud crash from above catches their attention. They instinctively look up into the sky, and that's where they see two figures engaged in a fierce mid-air battle. One of the figures has massive insect-like wings, and the other is zooming around effortlessly, propelled by magic or some other unseen force.

Nino immediately reaches for Jun's arm, trying to tug him closer. "We should get out of here."

But Jun stays where he is, mesmerized by the battle taking place above them. "I've never seen something like this up close," he breathes out, awestruck. "Is that... the Crimson Crusader?"

An especially violent-looking clash sends the winged figure plummeting several meters downward before it zig-zags to the side and sends some kind of ball of energy at the other figure. The other one narrowly avoids it and zooms down to engage the winged figure in battle once again, and now that they're closer, Nino can see that the winged figure is definitely a monster, grotesque and horrifying, while the other figure does indeed appear to be the Crimson Crusader, judging by the sloped shoulders that are obvious even from this distance. They continue fighting, and another ball of energy is shot out only to be dodged once again. Nino reaches for Jun again, feeling his anxiety rise higher and higher the longer they stand there. "Jun-kun, come on, this is dangerous."

"It's all right," Jun says, never once looking away. "He's taking care of it. Look --"

Nino does look, just in time to see a third ball of energy zoom past the hero and instead crash into the scaffolding set up around the top of the building.

Nino's heart leaps into his throat as he watches part of the scaffolding wobble violently from the impact before it finally breaks off from the main structure. The broken pieces start plummeting down towards Nino and Jun, and suddenly everything seems like it's happening at three times normal speed; Nino sees the pieces falling and knows instinctively, with no question in his mind, that they're going to hit him and Jun before either of them has time to jump out of the way.

All he can spare is one glance in Jun's direction, where he can see the realization bloom on Jun's face, and then it's too late.

There's no other option.

Nino reaches out towards the falling debris -- physically, with his arms -- mentally, with something inside of him that he's never in his life called upon for something this massive or this urgent -- emotionally, with every bit of hope and determination he has at his disposal. He grits his teeth and concentrates as hard as he's ever concentrated on anything, and for a split second, he's not sure if it's going to work. But then --

But then it does.

The pieces of scaffolding lurch to a sudden stop, and there they remain, hovering in mid-air, only feet above Nino and Jun's heads.

Jun is already ducking down, arms thrown around his head to shield himself, so at first he doesn't see what's going on. When he doesn't feel the impact or hear the sounds of wood and metal crashing down around him, though, he peeks up through the gap between his arms to see what happened. He immediately gasps and throws himself backward, at first startled by the sight of the debris hovering so close above him and then dumbstruck when he realizes that hovering is all it's doing. Nino himself is too shell-shocked to think of anything but a single thought, over and over: _He's safe. He's safe. He's safe._

Finally, Jun tears his gaze away from the scaffolding and over to Nino. His eyes are wide, the color draining from his face as he takes in the sight of Nino, standing there with his arms outstretched, nearly trembling now with the effort of it all. He looks back up at the scaffolding suspended perfectly above him -- then back to Nino -- then back and forth once more.

Something about the look on Jun's face brings Nino's thoughts snapping back into focus enough that he can gather the strength to throw the debris off to the side, away from both of them. It hits the ground with a crash that makes both of them flinch, but Jun still doesn't look away from him.

Nino's mouth feels dry, his throat constricted. He croaks out, "Jun-kun."

Slowly, Jun climbs to his feet. "Nino," he whispers. "You..."

Another crash above them draws their attention. The monster and the hero zoom past them at top speed before the Crimson Crusader sends the monster flying with a super-powered punch. It buys him only a few seconds of breathing time, and he uses those seconds to turn towards Nino and Jun and shout a single word of instruction:

"Run!"

Nino isn't about to argue with a full-fledged superhero, and luckily, Jun doesn't look like he's up to the task either. They take off together and don't look back until they've found an overpass they can duck under, far enough away from the battle that they can no longer see or hear what's happening. Nino doubles over with his hands braced on his knees and tries to catch his breath while Jun leans against the wall to do the same. Nino's adrenaline is still pumping, and now that he can sustain more thought than just _Keep moving,_ he's very quickly beginning to remember what just happened. He remembers what he revealed to Jun -- how Jun looked at him when he finally comprehended what had happened --

The way Jun is looking at him now.

Jun is still panting and flushed, but his eyes are focused intently on Nino. He starts to say something, then stops when he can't quite get the words out for lack of breath. He breathes for a few more seconds, then gasps out, "You... you did that. With your mind?"

Nino, still incapable of words, can only nod.

Jun presses on. "You have a power. Like the heroes. You've always had it?"

Nino straightens up as much as he can and huffs out, "I mean -- I wouldn't say it's like them exactly --"

And then he stops saying much of anything, because suddenly Jun is surging forward and kissing him, framing his jaw with his hands, urging them backwards until Nino finds himself caught between Jun and the wall. His body's natural instinct is to return Jun's enthusiasm, no questions asked, though his mind is struggling to reconcile where they were a few moments ago with where they are now.

Before he can form the words to appropriately capture his confusion, Jun breaks away from the kiss only to turn his attention to Nino's neck instead. Nino helpfully tilts his head back to give Jun access, but when he feels Jun's hands pawing at his jacket, his brain finally catches up with his dick.

"Wait, wait -- Jun --" He takes hold of Jun's elbows, not pushing him away, just getting him to pause in his effort to undress Nino in an out-of-sight but still very much public space. "Jun-kun, slow down -- we can't do anything _here_ \--"

Jun kisses a path from Nino's pulse to his ear, then whispers huskily, "Why, can you fly us somewhere better?"

Nino finally pushes Jun away with a snort and reaches into his pocket for his phone. "Hold on, I'll call a cab. But don't think this changes anything." Jun comes back for another kiss, and Nino mumbles against his mouth, "You're still paying."

That gets a laugh out of Jun. He pauses to rest his forehead against Nino's shoulder as Nino starts dialing. "Good," he says, sneakily working his arms around Nino's waist. "I can only handle so many surprises in one night."

~

The cab ride to Nino's place is as silent as ever, but it feels completely different from their weekly getaways after yakiniku and beer with their colleagues. Instead of tapping out messages on his phone, Jun is tapping a nervous rhythm against his thigh, every now and then turning to glance at Nino for a long, heated moment before he darts his gaze away once again, as if staring too long will lead to some impulse he won't be able to pull back from. The ride up the elevator is just as tense, as is the walk down the hall to Nino's apartment. Not even twenty-four hours ago Jun said he was feeling impatient, but when they're finally past the threshold, it becomes clear that tonight takes the cake; Nino's front door is still swinging shut when Jun crowds him up against the wall of the entryway and kisses him breathless.

Now that they're somewhere safe and private, Nino has no problem letting Jun take what he wants as long as he gets to take his fair share in return. He has his keys, his jacket, and Jun's belt all tossed onto the floor of the hallway before either of them finally thinks to step out of their shoes and move somewhere a bit roomier. They end up side by side on the couch, making out and feeling each other up like inexperienced teenagers. Jun keeps breaking away like he wants to say something, then changes his mind and leans back in for another kiss. Nino doesn't know if it's courage or brainpower he's trying to muster up, but it's a few minutes before he finally seems to gather enough of it to put the words together.

"How does it work?" he asks. He has one hand on the back of Nino's neck, the other tucked up under Nino's shirt and tracing patterns against the skin below his ribs. He holds Nino's gaze, then lowers his eyes and bites his lip as he adds, "I mean, your power."

Nino pulls Jun closer so he can kiss his mouth, just briefly, and then his chin, his jaw, the spot below his ear. Between kisses, he lets the words spill out, emboldened by the nearly scandalous feeling of talking out loud about something he's never shared with anyone. "All I have to do is concentrate," he says, "and then whatever I want to move... it moves." He lays a kiss over Jun's pulse point -- another over his Adam's apple. "Or if I want it to stay, it stays. I just have to visualize it."

Jun shivers against him. "What does it feel like?"

"Almost like I'm reaching out to touch something..." To match his words, he runs his palms up the curves of Jun's shoulders, back down the length of his arms. "But not with my body. Instead, it's... some other part of me."

Jun pushes Nino away just enough to see his face, to show Nino the genuine curiosity and affection sparkling in his eyes. "Show me," he says.

There's a single moment of hesitation. Nino has used his power around other people before, but they were always unaware -- or, like tonight, it was a true emergency -- and the thought of using it on someone who knows exactly what he's doing feels completely foreign, almost taboo. But in the end, Nino doesn't think he could deny Jun's request, not when Jun is so close and looking at him like that, and truthfully, Nino doesn't think he _wants_ to deny it. That he's never before had this opportunity feels like an argument in and of itself for why he should take advantage of it.

That's the thought that settles it, and with his mind made up, Nino's first move is to stand up and guide Jun so he's lying on the couch, flat on his back, and then climbs back on to straddle Jun's hips. Jun looks up at him again with that sparkle in his eyes, and Nino can't resist leaning down to drop a kiss onto Jun's mouth before he goes any further. Then he takes Jun's wrists in his hands and pulls them up to pin his arms over his head.

Jun gives a small, experimental push, and Nino holds him there using just his upper body strength. Even with the leverage he has in this position, Nino isn't particularly powerful -- certainly not as powerful as Jun, who visits the gym multiple times a week and could probably do a rep of push-ups with Nino perched on his back -- but he wants Jun to feel what it's like when Nino holds him in place using just his body.

He wants Jun to feel how it's different when Nino isn't using his body at all anymore.

He leans down to kiss Jun again, deeper this time, and as he does, he reaches out with his mind, the way he did earlier that night, the way he does whenever some stranger he passes on the street just narrowly avoids an accident. He reaches out with the part of himself that, until now, he's never bothered to try and put into words, and he wraps that unnameable force around Jun's arms, from his wrists to his elbows, and holds them securely against the couch. He gives Jun one last kiss, uses his hands to give Jun's wrists a little squeeze, and then he pulls away.

As soon as he removes his hands, Jun pulls at his wrists again. Last time, there was some give as he pushed against Nino; this time, he can't budge at all.

He makes a small noise of surprise, his eyes snapping to Nino's. He tries again to move, Nino can tell from the way his shoulders flex and his hands clench, from the small surge of resistance he feels against his power, but once again, Jun's arms are held fast against the couch. The effect on him is nearly instantaneous: he licks his lips and swallows hard, and he's a little breathless when he says, "Nino, this -- this is incredible."

"I bet you say that to all the super-powered guys you follow home."

Jun huffs out a laugh, but it cuts off into a moan when Nino reaches out again and uses his power to tilt Jun's head back, giving Nino access to his neck. He leans back down to lay a new path of kisses along the curves of Jun's throat, and meanwhile, one of his hands travels down Jun's torso to slip underneath the waistband of his briefs.

Jun pushes his hips up into Nino's hand with a sigh. He strains against Nino's power, just to feel the hold it has on him, and moans again as Nino comes back to kiss his mouth. He's panting by the time Nino pulls out of the kiss.

"Nino," he gasps, nearly pulsing in Nino's hand. "Please."

Nino squeezes a little tighter -- with his fingers, with his power -- and says, "Please what?" His eyes track the movement of Jun's throat as he swallows, then the flash of his teeth as he bites his lip.

"Please," Jun says again, his voice pitched lower this time. "Keep going."

Nino grins and moves down the length of the couch, settling over Jun's legs so he has better access to the rest of him. This, too, is a request he doesn't think he could deny Jun, not even if he wanted to. And he definitely doesn't want to.

~

Everything about this night is different, from the reason they came together in the first place, to the electric tension as they made their way to Nino's apartment, to the reversed roles they fell into once they got there. And when it finally comes to a close, they add one more difference to the list as they wash up together, wind down together, slip into bed together. For all the times they've done this, they've never literally spent the night together, but as Nino drifts to sleep with Jun's arms snug around his waist, he can't bring himself to feel anything other than comfortable with this new turn of events. There's just something about the way this night has turned out, something about the exhilaration of letting someone else see a side of him that he's never shown anyone, of being able to use his power so openly and so intimately...

Nino never foresaw anything like this happening, but now that it has, he's glad Jun was the one who found out -- and right now, he's happy to share the experience with him until morning.

~

Nino wakes up to the smell of breakfast and the sound of Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" drifting down the hallway from his kitchen. The scents are familiar -- miso and eggs, his usual breakfast of choice -- but waking up to them is entirely new. He stretches, feeling the pleasant soreness lingering in his muscles as a souvenir of last night's activities, and thinks that this is definitely something he could get used to.

It's only a few minutes later when the music stops and Jun comes walking down the hall with a tray of food. He smiles at the sight of Nino sitting up waiting for him and brings the tray over to the bed, saying as he carefully climbs onto the mattress, "I'm assuming you're not going to let me drop this?"

"Well," Nino says, "there's only one way to find out, right?"

There's that eye-roll Nino is so charmed by. Once Jun is comfortably seated on the bed, he leans over the tray to brush a kiss over Nino's mouth. "Good morning."

"Mm, good morning." Nino takes the plate of eggs Jun offers him. "How'd you sleep?"

Jun picks up a bowl of miso soup and uses it to hide his smile. "Well, it was my first time sleeping next to someone with a superpower, so it was pretty peaceful."

"Oh yeah?"

"I felt very safe, you see."

"Ah, of course."

"Plus..." Jun pauses for dramatic effect as he takes a sip from his bowl. "It didn't hurt that by the time I actually got into bed, I was completely exhausted."

Nino grins. "Sounds like you had a pretty exciting night."

They lean in for another kiss, and Nino feels his body waking up in a way that makes him suspect they'll have a very exciting morning as well, but then his stomach grumbles and they pull away laughing. Nino takes a bite of egg, Jun continues to sip away at his miso, and the moments pass by quietly until Jun asks, "When did you find out about your power? Were you born with it?"

Nino chews for a few moments as he thinks. "Probably," he finally says, "but I didn't really notice it until I was almost a teenager. I remember lying in bed, thinking about how much I didn't want to get up, wishing my homework would just float over to me... and then it did."

Jun laughs fondly. "No way! There was no dramatic event that triggered it -- no near-death experience?"

Nino waves that idea away with a scoff. "You were there for that one, Jun-kun. What, you think my life is so boring that I have to recycle exciting events?"

Jun snorts and shoves him playfully, but he doesn't say anything in return. He takes a big sip of miso and chews thoughtfully on a piece of tofu as he peers down into the broth, looking like he wants to say something more but isn't quite ready yet. Nino finishes his eggs and starts on his own soup, and he lets Jun think on it.

Finally, after Jun empties his bowl and can't distract himself with it any longer, he clears his throat and speaks up. "So... have I heard of you?"

Nino cocks his head, eyebrows raised.

"You know," Jun continues, waving his hands like he's trying to prompt Nino telepathically. "As a superhero. Are you one of the famous ones? Like Big-No or the Crimson Crusader... You look a little too short to be Mirror Man, but then again, it's hard to tell with that suit he wears --"

"Jun-kun," Nino interrupts, his tone serious enough that Jun stops immediately and looks at him with slightly widened eyes. "I know this isn't terribly exciting, but I'm not a hero."

Jun stares at him for a moment longer, than laughs as if at a silly joke. "You don't have to be modest!"

"No, that's not --" Nino sighs and lowers his bowl into his lap. "I don't mean it like that. I mean, literally, I'm not a hero. I don't go out and hunt down monsters or fight crime. You haven't heard of me because I don't _do_ anything."

Jun stares at Nino like he's just told some complicated riddle. "Why not?"

Nino stares back, just as incredulous. "What do you mean why not?"

"I mean, why wouldn't you go out there and _do_ something? Why wouldn't you use your power to help people?"

"It's not like what I can do is all that impressive -- I don't have flight or super strength or some other extraordinary power --"

Jun cuts in to say, "Do you even hear yourself?" Nino leans back, startled by Jun's tone, but Jun just keeps going. "Of course what you can do is extraordinary! You can pull a weapon out of someone's hand, or save someone from a burning building, or --"

"What if I don't _want_ to do any of that?"

"Well that's a little selfish, don't you think?"

"It's not _selfish,_ " Nino argues, quickly approaching exasperation. "I'm not going out there trying to save the day because I don't want to be known as some great hero. I don't want the fuss or the recognition. I just want to live a normal life."

"That's what secret identities are for," Jun insists. "Put on a mask like all the others do --"

Nino has finally had enough. He slams his bowl onto the tray, sending little splashes of miso onto his sheets, but he doesn't care about that right now. Jun's mouth has snapped shut, and now he's looking at Nino with surprised, expectant eyes. Nino sucks in a breath to calm himself, but there's still tension pulling at him when he says, "Do you think I haven't gone over all of this in my head a thousand times before? You've known about my power for one night. I've been _living_ with it since I was a kid. I made my choice, and I don't have to explain myself to you just because we sleep together every now and then."

Jun's expressions turns immediately and startlingly blank. Slowly, he sets his empty bowl down onto the tray next to Nino's and slides off the bed. Nino is already starting to regret his words as he watches Jun move towards the doorway, but he's not quite ready to take them back. There's anger and indignation still bubbling up inside of him, so he says nothing -- does nothing.

Jun stops in the doorway on his way out of the room. "You're right," he says, clearly forcing himself to use an even tone. "It's not my place to say anything. All I know is that if I saw bad things happening and I had some incredible ability that would allow me to stop even a handful of them, I'd do it." His mouth purses as he hesitates, and then he says, "But I guess that's just me."

After he leaves, Nino can't bring himself to do anything but sit in bed like a lump and listen to the sounds of Jun moving around the apartment to gather his things. His footsteps move from one room to the next. The water in the kitchen runs and then stops.

The front door opens -- closes.

And then Nino's apartment goes back to its normal, quiet state.

~

Nino tries to pretend that everything Jun said was unreasonable, unfair, and uninformed, but even he can only pretend for so long.

Every word of what he told Jun was true, or at least he meant them when he said them. He's never wanted to be known as a hero, has never wanted the fame that comes with saving the day. He doesn't think he or anyone else should be rewarded for helping others, not when helping others is nothing more than basic human decency.

But that's when he realizes what Jun was trying to tell him: helping others _is_ basic human decency. And sure, Nino already uses his power to help people in small ways when the opportunity presents itself, but what about helping others in bigger, more impactful ways? What about the way he helped -- the way he _saved_ \-- Jun last night? Nino was so relieved just to see that Jun was safe, but how would he have felt if they hadn't been so lucky, if someone else with Nino's power had been there instead and chose to do nothing?

Then again, Nino tells himself, he _didn't_ do nothing. He chose to act, and he's sure he would have made that same choice even if it hadn't been Jun standing beneath the falling debris.

The point isn't that he chooses not to help when something is happening right in front of him, because he's demonstrated that he'll make that choice without hesitation.

The point is that he doesn't choose to do more.

It's a quandary he's never allowed himself to ponder for very long, possibly because he doesn't like what kind of conclusion he'll draw if he does. Is it his responsibility to go out and risk his life because of something he never volunteered for, or is that going above and beyond what one person alone can be expected to take on?

He doesn't know the answers to these questions, and after letting them stew in his brain all weekend, he's no closer to finding an answer that satisfies him. All he knows for certain is that he doesn't want to lose Jun's friendship, but after the argument they had before Jun left, he's afraid it might already be too late for that.

~

Nino might not be feeling his best, but work is work, so when Monday morning rolls around he heads to campus like normal and does his best to pretend he's not anxious about the possibility of running into Jun. He goes to his office before class, the same as always, and is somehow both disappointed and relieved when, right on cue -- fifteen 'til noon -- there's a knock on his door.

He's surprised, however, when he opens the door and finds someone other than Jun standing on the other side. He'd taken a nervous breath when he reached for the doorknob, and now he lets it out in a huff. "Can I help you?"

The student standing outside his office bows politely and holds out her arms, offering an unmarked paper bag. "I just left Matsumoto-sensei's class," she explains. "He asked if anyone coming this way could bring this to you, so I volunteered."

Nino takes the package and sends the student on her way. Inside the bag, as he was beginning to suspect, is one of Jun's homemade onigiri. Underneath that is a piece of paper, folded over once, with Jun's handwriting scrawled across the inside.

_Sorry for overstepping my bounds. (Sincerely.)_  
_If you don't want to see me for a while, I understand._  
_But if you want to talk, you know where to find me._

_\- J_

Nino didn't finish his breakfast this morning because his appetite matched his mood: downtrodden, not quite up to par. As his eyes scan the words, however, he's happier than ever to see Jun's onigiri. He unwraps it -- tarako filling today -- and eats in pensive silence, wondering if it would be better to accept Jun's apology first or to offer his own. More than anything, he's thankful that's the most important decision he has to make for now.

He finishes up and gathers what he'll need for class, but just as he's closing his office door, the building's alarms suddenly shriek to life. Nino's first thought is that it must be a fire, but then he sees students gathering by the windows to shout and point. He rushes over to see what they're seeing, and when he gets there, the sight before him makes his blood run cold. There's a monster out there -- as tall as a building, belching fire as it topples trees on its way toward the school. Nino feels himself begin to panic as the voices rise around him, but the sight of students spilling out of the buildings outside kicks his instincts into gear.

He turns away from the window and throws his arms over his head, shouting to be heard over the noise. "Everyone follow me! The evacuation path is this way!"

As a professor of the college, he's received plenty of training on how to guide and protect students in the event of an emergency, and an incoming monster attack certainly qualifies. He and the other teachers on this floor work together to maintain order and direct people to the appropriate exits, then down the appropriate pathway that leads them out of the building and into the parking lot that serves as the designated meeting spot. Buses are already pulling in to take students and faculty somewhere safe -- standard procedure in cases like this due to the erratic nature of the monster's path of destruction -- but Nino isn't ready yet to get on one of those buses and be whisked away. He continues to help students file in safely and calmly, but he's also looking around, trying to see through the crowd, trying to pinpoint one face in particular...

It's entirely possible, Nino knows, that Jun is safe and sound somewhere else on campus. Each building has its own designated meeting spot in case of emergencies, so if Jun was in a different building when the alarms went off, there would be no reason for him to be here in the first place. Still, Nino also knows that the reason Jun is always stopping by Nino's office to bring him lunch is that he has a class in this building at noon, just like Nino does.

He remembers the bag Jun's student dropped off, the note that was inside: _If you want to talk..._ He doesn't know what he'll do if they're never able to have that conversation.

He can't bear to think of that possibility for very long, so he busies himself with continuing to load students onto the buses, until the only people left are a few other professors and floor monitors. There's one last bus waiting for them, but Nino has to be absolutely sure before he gets on it. He flags down a teacher he recognizes, Kamenashi-san who joins them for yakiniku every week, and asks, "Have you seen Matsumoto? Do you know if he got on one of the buses?"

"I have no idea," Kamenashi says. He's flushed and out of breath, just like everyone else, and keeps glancing back and forth between Nino and the bus. "I was in class when it happened -- I helped my students get out and I've been here ever since. He might have come out here too but I didn't see him."

Nino thanks him anyway and lets him go so he can head for the bus. He turns to look around, debating what to do next. Though he was too distracted to notice earlier, he realizes now that the monster must have made it onto campus, judging by the way the ground is shaking beneath his feet, and he can see the monster's head visible over the tops of the campus buildings as it spits out arcs of fire each time it roars. Something -- Nino prays it was abandoned, whatever it is -- has already caught fire and is sending black smoke into the air.

Nino should leave, he knows he should. He knows it's reckless to stay here. But he can't go until he's sure.

He's about to pull out his phone on the off chance that Jun would have remembered in all the commotion to turn silent mode off after he left class, and that's when he sees them: a small group of students rushing out from the music building. One is clutching her arm, and another looks a bit scraped up, but they're all fit enough to keep running and waving their hands as they yell for the bus to wait for them. As they come closer, Nino realizes that they're also shouting his name, and that sparks the realization that he recognizes each of them. They're all music majors he's had in his classes before.

He runs to meet them halfway, calling out to them to find out what happened.

"We were practicing behind the science building when it happened," one of them tells him, talking a mile in a minute. "We saw the monster and ran, but it was so fast --"

"It was about to get us in the quad," another chips in, "and that's when Matsumoto-sensei showed up!"

Nino's stomach drops. It becomes hard to focus, every instinct in his body telling him to run, but he forces himself to get the words out. "What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to tell you -- he distracted the monster so we could get away!"

His feet are already starting to move beyond his control, but he has to know where to go. "Where is he now?"

"In the quad, by the cafeteria! Help him!"

Nino has broken into a full run before the last words have even fully left the student's mouth. He looks back only long enough to make sure the students are heading for the bus, and he sees that some of the remaining teachers are yelling at him to wait, but he doesn't listen. There's only one thing he cares about right now.

Jun is in there, alone, and if anyone can help, it's Nino.

He dashes through the music building, knowing it's shorter than going around, and as he skids down each hall and around each corner, he feels that unnameable force inside of him swelling up, reaching out in every direction until he can feel it thrumming like a forcefield all around him. He uses it to slam open doors, to move anything that's in his way. By the time he reaches the quad at the center of campus, he feels the force propelling him faster and faster, his feet barely even touching the ground between strides.

And then he sees it.

The monster.

It's standing in the smoking rubble of the science building, its furious attention focused on one corner of the dining hall at the other end of the quad. Nino follows its line of sight and sees Jun, alone on the dining hall patio. He's crouching behind an overturned picnic bench, but in the face of a fire-breathing monster the size of a building, that bench won't hold for long.

The monster is preparing for another burst of fire, inhaling hugely as if it's gathering energy from the air around it. Nino takes one moment to glance around, and then he springs into motion. He runs for Jun, using his power to push him along faster, and then uses it again to reach out towards the swinging metal door that serves as entrance to the dining hall. He's never tried to manipulate anything that was screwed in or bolted down before, and the effort it takes is monumental; he's still struggling with it when he reaches Jun.

Jun is so focused on staying hidden that he doesn't even notice Nino until he's ducking down next to him behind the bench. He shouts in surprise and throws his arms around Nino's shoulders before he asks, "What are you doing here?"

Still struggling with the door, Nino says through gritted teeth, "Trying to do the right thing."

At first Jun looks confused, and then it dawns on him. "Nino, you _idiot_ \-- you're gonna get _both_ of us killed --"

"What, instead of just you? I can't let you take all the glory like that."

He leans in quickly to kiss Jun, and even now, even with a monster about to rain fire down upon them, Jun doesn't hesitate to kiss him back. The surge of warmth it sends through Nino is the last push he needs; with his power, he wrenches the metal door off its hinges and uses it to reinforce the bench behind them, so that when the monster's plume of fire finally reaches them just seconds later, they're still protected.

It's not a perfect solution, of course. The metal heats up almost instantaneously and begins to glow a bright, violent orange. Nino and Jun shrink away from it as much as they can, huddling together in the small space they have.

"What's the plan?" Jun asks, shouting to be heard over the monster's roar. "How are we going to take it down?"

Nino reaches for Jun's hands and holds on tight as he struggles to keep everything in place against such a strong force. "I'm gonna be honest with you, Jun-kun," he gasps. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"What!" Jun squeezes his hands furiously but doesn't let go. "You came out here and risked your life without a plan!?"

Nino doesn't have an answer for that -- but, as it turns out, he doesn't need one. Suddenly the heat dissipates, and when they peek over their shoulders, they're amazed to see Mirror Man planted on the other side of the bench, deflecting the fire back towards the monster.

"Thanks for your help," Mirror Man shouts over his shoulder. "I've got friends on the way, so don't worry, we'll take it from here!"

Nino looks to Jun. "You wanna stick this one out too?"

Jun gives his famous eye-roll -- Nino's desperately glad he gets to see it again -- and then they're taking off, bolting through campus and out towards the parking lot, both of them more than happy to leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.

~

Thanks to the school's efficient evacuation system and the just-in-the-nick-of-time arrival of Mirror Man and his superhero friends, the monster attack on Tokyo Junior College resulted in no fatalities and only a few injuries. The school itself, of course, was not so lucky, and classes are put on hold for a few days while initial repairs are made and a temporary enclosure is constructed to replace the destroyed science building while it's being rebuilt. Jun and Nino spend much of that time together, and though the first half a day is not unreasonably dedicated to sex of the "we thought we were going to die" variety, they do follow it up with a long and honest discussion about what happened between them before the monster ever appeared.

"For one thing," Jun says, once they're settled down on the couch and have come to an agreement about who gets to apologize first, "it wasn't my place to step in and tell you how to live your life. But, also... I wasn't really putting myself in your shoes, either. I didn't realize how terrifying it would be to put myself in harm's way like that."

"But Jun-kun, you did it anyway."

"Well, yeah, because those kids were going to die if I didn't do something. But I don't think I could go out every day and _look_ for that kind of thing. It's... it's a lot."

He also apologizes for leaving Nino's place the day of the argument without washing the dishes he'd used to make breakfast.

Nino, for his part, apologizes for not being willing to hear Jun out and for snapping when he was frustrated. "I still don't know if I have what it takes to be like those other heroes," he admits, "but I'm willing to at least give it some more thought."

Jun smiles, gentle and fond. "That's all anyone can reasonably ask of you, right?"

They also decide, after ending their discussion with a lengthy and hard-earned make-out session on the couch, that a few more dates might be in order as well.

"That," Jun says, "and some more, ah... experimentation... with your power."

Nino cocks an eyebrow. "Why, were you into it? I couldn't tell."

Jun shoves him with a laugh, then climbs on top of him to demonstrate just how into it he really was.

By the time they return to their jobs the following week, Nino is glad for the things in his life that have stayed the same: his work, the homemade onigiri Jun brings him for lunch, his weekly outings with his colleagues in the music department and the fact that he gets to bring Jun home with him afterwards. But he's also thankful for the things that have changed: he now has someone else who knows about his power, someone he trusts enough to share this part of himself with, and it's not just once a week anymore that he gets to bring that person home.

In the span of a weekend, Nino has experienced a lot of first times with Jun by his side. Now, he can look forward to all the first, second, and many more times they'll get to experience together.


End file.
